In the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, it is often necessary to perform a biopsy to remove tissue samples from a suspicious mass. The suspicious mass is typically discovered during a preliminary examination involving visual examination, palpation, X-ray, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound imaging or other detection means.
When a suspicious mass is detected, a sample is taken by biopsy, and then tested to determine whether the mass is malignant or benign. This biopsy procedure can be performed by a variety of surgical techniques.
Regardless of the method or instrument used to perform the biopsy, subsequent examination of the surgical site may be necessary, either in a follow up examination or for treatment of a cancerous lesion. Treatment often includes a mastectomy, lumpectomy, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy procedure that requires the surgeon or radiologist to direct surgical or radiation treatment to the precise location of the lesion. Because this treatment might extend over days or weeks after the biopsy procedure, and the original features of the tissue may have been removed or altered by the biopsy, it is desirable to insert one or more site markers into the surgical site to serve as a landmark for future identification of the location of the lesion.
However, one problem that arises with site markers is migration. When the site markers are typically deployed to the biopsy site, the breast is still under compression. However, when the breast is released from compression, the site marker may migrate within the site or even out of the site through a needle tract created by the biopsy device, thereby preventing a surgeon or radiologist from easily locating the precise location of the lesion or biopsied area.